Biden signed new rules for U.S. entry to remove travel restrictions on China and Europe

According to foreign media reports, the White House said that President Biden signed an order on the 25th to implement new vaccine requirements for most foreign air passengers from November 8 and lift strict travel restrictions on China, India and most countries in Europe.

Infographic: Electronic bulletin boards in the terminal buildings of New York JFK International Airport, USA.

The United States reportedly imposed special travel restrictions for the first time in early 2020 in response to the spread of the coronavirus. The rule prohibits entry for most non-U.S. citizens who have been to the United Kingdom, European Schengen countries, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil in the past 14 days.

"It is in the interest of the United States to move forward with the safe resumption of international air travel by moving away from the travel restrictions previously imposed during the pandemic and adopting an air travel policy that relies primarily on vaccination," biden said in a statement. ”

The Biden administration announced in September 2021 that it would lift entry restrictions and require all foreign nationals to be fully vaccinated before coming to the United States. Guidelines released on the 25th outline the exempt subjects of this requirement, including tourists under the age of 18; people with certain medical conditions; participants in clinical trials, and those who need to travel for emergency or humanitarian reasons.

A senior administration official added that travelers from countries with vaccination rates below 10 percent will also be allowed to enter the country after providing a compelling reason to come to the United States. Another senior official noted that WHO regularly updates a list of countries with a shortage of vaccines, which includes about 50 countries, and will be assessed quarterly.

Senior officials said the people who received the exemption accounted for "a very, very small percentage of the actual number of tourists to U.S. cities." ”

Under the new rules, travelers are required to provide vaccination certificates and negative test results before boarding, and airlines will be responsible for implementing these measures, including confirming whether the records provided by travelers are officially released and whether their vaccination status meets the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definition of "full vaccination."

U.S. officials said the U.S. would accept any vaccine approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), and travelers could provide an officially released electronic version of the vaccine card.

Airlines are also required to retain passenger contact information so that CDC can conduct contact tracing in the event of a potential infection.

Source: China News Network